It is important for patients to take their prescribed medication on time and in their proper order. For example, some pills need to be taken in a particular regimen in order to build an effective dose level in the body. This is particularly true for birth control pills, in which levels of hormone doses change per day and therefore must be taken in order and on a prescribed date. In addition, it is common for the last week of a month's prescription to include sugar pills, which are provided to ensure the patient remains on a routine of taking pills for the following month.
However, despite the importance of taking the proper pills in their proper sequence, many patients, at some point during their treatment, either forget to take their medication on a particular day or accidentally take them in the wrong order, putting them at risk. While there are techniques and devices to help organize a patient's medication to help track their proper usage, medication compliance remains a significant issue with very few accurate existing solutions. In particular, it is important to not only detect the number of pills left in a blister pack but also to determine their position to assess whether the proper dosage has been taken.